The Russian Provisional Government decreed that the provincial assembly be created with members elected by indirect universal suffrage.
In its last meeting on 15 November 1917, the Maapäev proclaimed itself the supreme legal authority of Estonia until the convening of the Constituent Assembly.
In the Constituent Assembly elections in early 1918, which were organised by the Bolsheviks, two-thirds of the voters supported the parties who stood for national statehood.
On 19 February 1918, the Committee of Elders of the Land Council decided to proclaim Estonian independence.
On 24 February, after the Bolsheviks abandoned Tallinn and one day before German forces occupied the country's capital city, the Salvation Committee issued a formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Estonia.